The Mysterious Ways of Fate
by sumrandomperson
Summary: Like father like son. How true. Harry and Anna, two sixth year Gryffindors, are bitter enemies. Their fights are legendary. Their tempers are infamous. Nothing can make them surrender to the other. Except maybe a bad potion, a broken time turner, and a tw
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own it. You know what "it" is.

I know some people are out of character but I can't really apply their personalities to this story very easily.

_Italics_ are people's thoughts.

**H/OC**

**Summary: Like father like son. How true. Harry and Anna, two sixth year Gryffindors, are bitter enemies. Their fights are legendary. Their tempers are infamous. Nothing can make them surrender to the other. Except maybe a bad potion, a broken time turner, and a twist of fate.

* * *

**

"Potter! You are such a jerk! Leave me alone!" Anna Winters screamed, storming away.

"Shut up, Winters!" he yelled back. It was their sixth year at Hogwarts; earlier in the summer, Harry had defeated Voldemort when there had been a surprise attack on Surrey. It had changed him a lot, but he was still Harry. In Anna's eyes, he had become arrogant. She thought him defeating the Dark Lord had made him think he was better than everyone else. She was wrong, and everyone else thought so too, but Anna didn't care.

"You shut up! I made one mistake and you scream at me!"

"That's because the first game of the season is tomorrow, and we've been practicing that pass forever!"

"We'll see how it goes tomorrow. For now, I'm leaving. I can't stand another second of you!" Anna shouted. She started walking away. The other members of the team sighed. They were used to Harry and Anna fighting every day by now; if they weren't screaming at each other at breakfast ("Potter! You dumped eggs all over me!" "I didn't mean to! It was an accident!" "No it wasn't! Ugh! Why'd you pour pumpkin juice on my head?" "So you'd know what an accident is and what isn't") something was wrong.

"You can go to hell, for all I care, but _not_ during Quidditch practice!" Harry shouted. He had been made Captain that year. Anna was the star Chaser on the team, and was almost as crazy about Quidditch as Harry. Even though he knew she would practice by herself later, he wasn't about to let her just walk out of the practice. Anna didn't listen and kept walking. Harry started smirking. He turned back to the team. "Ok, everyone," he said. "I want you all here on Saturday at nine in the morning. With all your things." Anna stopped and turned.

"Why should we be here on Saturday at nine with all of our things?" Harry looked at her.

"Oh, you can come but you don't need to bring your things. Well, actually, you won't be able to because you won't have them anymore." Anna was confused.

"What do you mean, Potter?" she asked.

"We're going to have tryouts for a Chaser position."

"Why? We have enough Chasers."

"No, we don't," Harry said. Anna rolled her eyes, muttered something about learning to count, and started walking away again. "We're going to have try-outs to fill your position." Anna stopped dead in her tracks.

"What?"

"That's right. You can't just practice by yourself after walking out of practice. You've done it before, but I'm not going to let you do it again. If you leave this pitch before practice is over, we're looking for a new Chaser." Anna gritted her teeth.

"Fine!" she yelled. She stomped toward the rest of the team, mounted her broom, and shot into the air. The rest of the team followed her example. Five minutes later Harry blew his whistle.

"Winters! We've been practicing that pass for a really long time! Try and get it right." He blew his whistle again, signaling them to restart. Anna missed it again. Harry called everyone down. "Winters, you _have_ to get that down. I know some Chasers who say it's really easy, and you're much better than them, so I know you can do it. Could you just try?" Anna blinked. That was the closest Harry had ever come to giving her a full complement. Also, it was one of the first times he had asked her to do something since the beginning of the year.

"Sure," she said. They rose into the air again. She caught the Quaffle and passed it perfectly. Harry grinned. Once he had signaled everyone down, he noticed the Slytherin team approaching, in their green robes and with their Nimbus 2001's.

"That was great," he said. "Good job with the passes and catches, Chasers. Beaters, that was excellent, you were on both ends of the field and still managing to guard the Chasers. Ron you were great at blocking those shots, but since you missed one, thrown by Sam, that means he's one of our best players." Ron beamed. "Ok, the Slytherins are coming out. Have you all been following the broom market?" The whole team had decided to do that, since it could prove useful.

"The Firebolt's price is going down," said Sam. Harry nodded grimly.

"And you all know what that means?"

"There's another broom coming out soon," they all answered.

"Right. So there's no guarantee the Slytherins won't have gotten Firebolts, or maybe even the new broom that's coming out, by our second match. It doesn't seem like there's much to fix on the Firebolt, but they can make it faster. If that happens, I'm sure Malfoy will get one. I think that's why he doesn't have a Firebolt; they're saving up for the new one. Now, if he gets one of the new ones, it will be much harder for me to catch the Snitch if we both see it at the same time."

"No it won't!" Ron said.

"Yeah," said Jeremy Biggins, a Beater. "You could beat him with one hand tied behind your back."

"Yeah!" all the others called.

"Thanks, but-"

"No buts," said Ginny, who was now the last Chaser. "You're the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever, and will ever, see." Everyone agreed.

"Yeah, yeah," said Anna. "We all know Harry could beat Malfoy with a hand tied behind his back on a Cleansweep while Malfoy is on a Firebolt, but let's talk about our strategy." Everyone stared at her. She had never complemented him, and never called him Harry. "I mean Potter," she added quickly.

"Er, right. Anyway, we play like we always play, and we'll beat them. And, um, we'll be one step closer to the Quidditch Cup," Harry said. He was looking at Anna oddly. "Yeah, so…go change." Anna walked off quickly.

_Ok, what happened there? I called him Harry! That's not going to happen again. It's just, everyone else was calling him Harry. So I did. No biggy._

In the common room that night Harry, Ron, and Hermione were talking. Ron and Hermione had gotten together that year. They had all been worried that, when that happened, Harry would be like the third-wheel, but it wasn't like that. It was the same as it always had been, except for Ron and Hermione kissing and holding hands and stuff.

"Are you nervous?" Hermione asked Ron and Harry. She was cuddled up next to Ron.

"A little," Harry admitted. He was sitting in a big armchair facing the fireplace. He didn't see Anna coming over to them, and Anna didn't see him. She and Hermione had become friends when Anna came at the end of fifth year. Even though Harry and Anna hated each other, Hermione and Anna were still good friends.

"Hey, Hermione? Can you help me with this question?" asked Anna.

"Of course," said Hermione. "What subject is it in?"

"Transfiguration, about Animagi," replied Anna. Harry stiffened. He was still recovering from Sirius' death, and the Transfiguration lessons hadn't helped; they were learning about Animagi that year. Harry stood up. Anna gasped; she hadn't known he was there. Harry walked quickly out of the common room, not saying a word to anyone.

He walked outside onto the grounds. He stopped at the Whomping Willow. It brought back so many memories. Professor Lupin had come back to teach again, and he and Harry came outside often to talk. Remus was really the only Marauder left, now. Peter had been given the Kiss, Sirius had fallen through the Veil, and James had been killed by Voldemort.

Harry stood quietly for a couple of minutes until he heard someone approaching him across the grass. He turned to see Hermione.

"Hey, Harry," she said softly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he sighed. "Just, so many things bring back memories of him. And I can't stop thinking about it."

"I know," she said, rubbing his back. "But it'll be ok. I promise. It just takes a while to recover from these things – but it'll get better, you'll see." Harry turned and smiled at her.

"Thanks, Mione," he said.

"No problem. Wanna go back inside?"

"Yeah, let's go."

They walked silently back to the tower, each reflecting in their own thoughts.

"Oh, there you guys are," said Ron when they came through the portrait.

"Hey," said Harry. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Hermione, will you help me with Potions?" he asked slyly.

"Sure!" said Hermione enthusiastically as they raced upstairs to do their "potions homework." Also known as sucking each others' faces off.

Harry grinned and went back over to the fire to collect his things. As he was going to the stairs to go to bed (hoping Ron and Hermione had at least had enough sense to close the curtains this time) he noticed Anna sitting on a couch talking to her friends. He detoured over there.

"Winters," he said curtly. As the group turned to look at him Anna rolled her eyes and her friends started giggling. Harry had gained a lot of popularity since he defeated Voldemort and had never talked to them.

"What do you want, Potter?" asked Anna.

"Why aren't you going to sleep yet? Our first game is tomorrow – you need as much sleep as you can get."

"I'll go when I feel like it."

"Winters…" Harry growled warningly.

"What?" she snapped. "You're not my mother, Potter. You can't tell me when to go to bed."

"I can as your Captain! How useful will you be tomorrow, falling asleep on your broom?" Harry's short temper was rising.

"I won't! Just leave me alone!"

"No! I'm not willing to risk our victory tomorrow because of you!"

"You WON'T!" Anna shouted.

"Winters, get your ass up to your dorm RIGHT NOW!"

The whole common room was silent and watching them at this point.

"No, I'm not going to! If you're so concerned with sleep, go to bed yourself!"

"I am!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Harry stalked up the stairs (past Ron and Hermione who had come down to see what was wrong) and slammed the door. As he shuffled noisily around the room, slamming drawers and knocking things over, he couldn't help but notice the bright star in the midnight sky, shining alone above the rest.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

I know some people are out of character but I can't really apply their personalities to this story very easily.

_Italics_ are people's thoughts.

**H/OC**

**Summary: Like father like son. How true. Harry and Anna, two sixth year Gryffindors, are bitter enemies. Their fights are legendary. Their tempers are infamous. Nothing can make them surrender to the other. Except maybe a bad potion, a broken time turner, and a twist of fate.**

* * *

"Weasley passes to Barkley. Excellent catch! Barkley passes to Winters – oooh close one. Slytherin in possession…"

Harry gritted his teeth.

"Come on, Winters. Make the effing catch!" Harry wasn't usually like this. It was only around the season's first and championship games that he began to swear and yell at every little thing.

"I'm doing my best, Potter!" Anna yelled at him. Her oval, icy blue eyes usually had a great amount of warmth in them. But not right now. Now it was just fury. Her light black, or maybe very dark brown, hair whipped around in its ponytail restraint. It was a windy day.

"No you're not! You can do better than that; I know you can, so do it!" Harry flew away angrily. A lot of things were going wrong. He hadn't found the Snitch, they were 30 points behind _Hufflepuff_, and the confidence of the team seemed to have shattered.

"Ooh and Jenkins is down! One of the Hufflepuff Chasers is out of the game!" The announcer shouted.

"Come on," Harry whispered. "We can do this. We can win this." It seemed like at least one of Gryffindor's players had regained their confidence. Ron was doing better now that a Chaser was out on the other team.

Another ten minutes passed, and Ginny had scored two goals. Ten points to go. Anna intercepted the Quaffle and shot forward. Soon, she had tied it up.

Finally, Harry saw light reflecting off of something near the center Hufflepuff post. He flew towards the glittering light, arm outstretched. His fingers wrapped around the Snitch, just as Anna made another goal.

"Ten more points – Harry Potter has got the Snitch! Gryffindor wins the game!"

The scarlet-clad Quidditch team flew down to the ground excitedly.

"We won!" Ginny shouted, hugging everyone around her. Harry was beaming. They had won the first match of the season. As the other students began heading back to the castle, the team entered their locker room.

"You guys all did great," Harry said, going towards the showers. "I'm really proud of all of you."

And so, the next couple of days passed by joyfully for the Gryffindors; not even Harry and Anna had any fights. They were all even happy to get to Potions, but maybe this was due to the fact that Snape no longer taught the class. It was now Professor Slughorn in charge.

"Hello, everyone," he said to the assembled N.E.W.T students. "Today, we will be brewing a rather complex potion. It is used to transport wizards and witches to very far away locations to which the distance is too great to Apparate comfortably. It is very rarely made and it will take several class periods to finish. The instructions are on the board. Begin!"

"Sir?" Neville asked, raising his hand timidly.

"Hmm?"

"What if we – er – spill the potion? I do that sometimes…" he said sheepishly. Slughorn smiled.

"Don't worry, Mr. Longbottom. There is a special way to activate the potion so, even if it is spilled all over you, it shouldn't have any effect." Neville seemed considerably happier now and began working on cutting up some daisy roots.

"This is horrible!" Ron exclaimed in a whisper, staring bug-eyed at the board. "Look at those instructions!" Indeed, Harry saw, the instructions seemed to go on forever, and looked very confusing.

"Better get started, I guess," he sighed. An hour later, he and Ron had barely gotten through the first five lines of instructions as they had to start over so often. Next to Ron's, Hermione's potion was bubbling away but, for once, it didn't look quite as it should. This visibly irritated her.

"Why can't I get it right?" she was muttering to herself, shaking her head. Next to her, Neville was much worse off. His potion looked almost jet black.

It was delightedly that the class left the steamy dungeon after class and headed to lunch.

"I'm going to die," Ron said, "Next time I have to look at that potion again. I mean, does Slughorn _really_ expect _anyone_ to finish it correctly?"

"It is rather difficult," Hermione agreed. "But I quite like a challenge."

"Yeah," Ron muttered, sitting down on the bench, "You would."

* * *

It was the next day. The Gryffindors were once again heading down to the dungeons for Potions class after lunch. 

"Hermione," Ron said. "Do you still have that Time-Turner?"

"Yes, it broke so McGonagall said I could keep it," Hermione answered.

"Can I see it?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, sure." Hermione fished it out of her bag.

"How did it break?" Harry asked as Ron began playing with it.

"Fell into the bath. The clasp was bad, I think. Anyway, it's stuck now and won't turn anymore."

The group walked on. After a while, Neville joined them, carrying a large cup, much like the ones from the Three Broomsticks.

"What's in there, Neville?" Harry asked, sensing a foul smell issuing from the cup. Neville looked embarrassed

"The potion we were working on in Potions," he admitted sheepishly. "I wanted to try and fix it a little before class…I think I just made it worse, though." As he spoke, a big bubble burst and the potion trickled a little down the sides.

Harry didn't know whether to be amused or feel sorry for Neville and his potion. They were almost at the dungeon stairs when someone bumped into Harry and their bag spilled out of their hands. It was Anna. She knelt down to pick up her things, bumping into Harry again. He wanted to tell her off but was knocked sideways into Ron. Ron, in turn, stumbled and the Time-Turner flew out of his hands, landing right into Neville's potion.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed angrily. "My Time-Turner!" Neville stared into the potion.

"Sorry, Hermione," he said apologetically. "I don't think I should reach in there." Harry couldn't agree more. As he looked into Neville's cup, he saw the dark, grayish brown inside. It was anything but inviting.

"Potter," Anna said from behind him irritably. "Can you get out of the way so I can get to class on time?" He turned to look at her and noticed he was blocking her way.

"I didn't hear the magic word there, Winters," he said. She narrowed her eyes.

"Fine. If you won't move, I'll do it for you." With that, she gave Harry a great shove. He flew back into Ron, who staggered into Hermione, who fell onto Neville; as Neville fell, the cup containing his potion shot out of his hands. It seemed to hesitate for a moment in the air and then plummeted back down. The glass shattered on the ground, showering Harry and Anna with the potion and sending the Time-Turner back into the air as potion spilled out of the broken cup, still bubbling violently. Harry watched, as if in slow motion, as the Time-Turner fell back down to the ground and broke into a million glittering pieces. Then, they were gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Please review! I've been down on reviews lately and it's making me sad. Well, not really, but reviews make me happy! So review any story! Even if you have something bad to say. Pretty please?

* * *

Harry stared around. The hallway was empty, save for him and Anna. She seemed to notice this too, but for once both of them were quiet. They couldn't hear anything in the castle – everything seemed deathly still. The only source of comfort for Harry was that the paintings were still moving. And, he suddenly noticed, gawking.

"I say, where did you come from?" asked a wizard in the nearest portrait, pointing at Harry and Anna. He was dressed in what looked like high class 18th century robes.

Harry was confused. "Er – excuse me?"

"Where did you come from?" the wizard in the painting demanded again.

Harry looked at Anna. "I don't get it," he said blankly.

"Yeah, me neither…let's move," she replied, leaving the wizard calling out behind them.

"I wonder where Hermione, Ron and Neville went to," Harry said as the pair moved down the hallway.

"I dunno. They seem to have just disappeared."

Suddenly Harry had a thought. "Maybe," he suggested, "The Time-Turner did something? I mean, it broke right before they vanished. Hermione said it was broken but maybe something happened?"

"I doubt it. They're probably playing some sort of joke on us."

"Come on, Neville and Hermione?" Harry scoffed. "Yeah, that sounds like something they would do."

"Whatever, Potter, you can do what you want but I'm going to go to class before Slughorn takes points."

"Winters, wait."

"What?" Anna looked quite impatient and annoyed. Harry didn't want points docked either but he had just noticed something rather strange.

"A minute ago, Neville's potion exploded all over us, didn't it?"

"Yeah. Your point?"

"Well it's not on us anymore." Anna looked down. Harry could see the realization dawn in her eyes.

"That's weird," she said. "What happened to it?"

"Yo, James!" a voice called in the background. Harry barely heard it as he tried to comprehend what could have happened to the potion. Anna seemed to be lost in thought as well.

"Oh look, that must be his new girlfriend," another voice said. Suddenly something in Harry's brain clicked and he realized that the two voices sounded strangely familiar. He didn't dare turn around as his breath sped up.

"Yeah, let's leave them. Lunch is calling," said the first voice again. Harry heard the sound of retreating footsteps, and whipped around to see if he was imagining things or not. All he could see, however, was the ends of the boys' robes as they turned the corner.

Harry turned back around, slowly, trying to work through what had just happened.

"Hey, Potter," Anna said, waving a hand in front of his face. He jerked back from his trance-like state.

"What?" he asked.

"What's wrong with you? You totally zoned out there for a second."

"Nothing. I think we should go to Dumbledore, though."

"Uh, why? To complain about Slughorn? Because, I mean, he's no Snape but we're sure to have both lost a lot of points by now."

"No…I just – something doesn't feel right. Look, you can go to class, but I'm gonna go talk to Dumbledore, okay? I'll see you later." With that, Harry began walking down the corridor towards Dumbledore's office. To his surprise, Anna followed him.

"What do you mean 'something doesn't feel right'?" she wanted to know. "What doesn't feel right?"

"I don't know, it's just –" Harry broke off as a girl rounded the corner and began walking towards them.

"_What_ is she wearing?" Anna breathed. Normally, Harry tried not to pay attention when girls commented on each other's clothing. But this time, he couldn't help but notice that she was dressed very strangely indeed. True, she was wearing Hogwarts robes. But they were much differently styled than Harry and Anna's. The only word Harry could think to describe them was "outdated."

As the girl passed, she gave the duo a very strange look. Anna scoffed.

"What is she looking at _us_ like that for? She's the one dressed weirdly! I mean, those robes looked ancient! Twenty years old, at least."

"Yeah," Harry said distractedly. They continued walking until they came to an opening into a main corridor. There were students all around, most heading in the direction of the Great Hall. And every single one was dressed just like that girl Harry and Anna had just passed.

"Okay, this is getting really odd," Anna said as she let Harry drag her away down the hall. "Why is everyone dressed like that?"

"I don't know," Harry replied, "But I think we should keep out of sight. Something is really wrong here."

Anna nodded in agreement. "How do we get to Dumbledore's office though? We need to get up to the second floor."

"Yeah, I guess we'll just have to wait. I think it's lunch or something. Everyone'll be in there soon…" Harry trailed off, with a sinking heart.

"Including Dumbledore," Anna finished for him. "It's fine, though," she assured her companion. "We'll just wait at his office for him."

"I want to talk to him as soon as possible, though. But I guess we don't have a choice," Harry sighed. Suddenly he felt Anna's fingers close on his arm and she dragged him behind a suit of armor. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Shut up!" she hissed. "I hear someone coming." As Harry strained his ears he too could hear the sound of footsteps coming their way.

"I swear," a voice was saying. "I wasn't in that corridor! And my girlfriend doesn't have black hair, remember? It's still Missy!"

"Prongs," a second voice said. Harry realized, with a jolt, that it was the same voice from before. And he recognized it this time, without a doubt. "We _saw_ you. No one else has that crap hair on their head in this school."

"Hey!" the first voice exclaimed, indignant. "My hair is beautiful, thank you very much."

"Whatever."

"So who was that then?" a third voice said. It sounded familiar, yet Harry couldn't place it.

"Maybe it's just someone we don't know?" suggested yet a fourth voice. Harry had heard this one before as well, in the corridor ten minutes ago – and many times before that. Harry peered out from behind the suit of armor. He could see the boys approaching. As his stomach gave a lurch, he realized that his suspicions were correct.

"But we know _every_one," Sirius Black laughed, looking much younger than Harry had ever seen him.

"Well," said Remus Lupin, on Sirius' left. His hair was devoid of any gray, and was completely sandy brown in color. "He didn't respond when we called him. Maybe it really wasn't James?"

"But he _looked_ like him!" protested someone from Remus' left. And Harry suddenly knew where he had heard that voice before. It was Peter Pettigrew.

"Whatever, you guys. This is getting boring. Let's talk about Snape," said the three boys' companion, stopping right in front of Harry and Anna's shielding suit of armor. He was on Sirius' right. Harry's stomach flipped again. This boy had messy black hair, much like Harry's own, and glasses, covering hazel eyes. Harry knew he was looking at his father. For the first time in his life, he saw his father in the flesh.

"Personally," Sirius said as everyone came to a stop with James. "I can't wait to see the look on his face. He won't ever be able to live this one down."

"Even Slughorn won't be able to find anything good to say about his potion," Peter sniggered. Harry suppressed the urge to rush at the boy and beat him to death.

"What good is there to say about a potion that makes the brewer grow girly parts?" Sirius said, grinning. "You know, from a teacher's perspective."

Harry was torn between laughter and disgust as his father, godfather, and their friends continued to talk about this. It had been one thing to see them torture Snape in the Pensieve. Seeing it play out in real life was much worse.

"Anyway," Sirius said as they began moving again. "Let's see if that kid is still in the corridor and then finally get to lunch. I'm dying here." With that, the quartet walked further down the hall, inspected the spot where Harry and Anna had just been, and, shrugging, made their way towards the Great Hall. Only once they were completely out of sight did Harry and Anna emerge from behind their guardian.

"Potter," Anna said, her voice shaking slightly. "Those boys were talking about Snape getting his potion judged by Slughorn…but Snape's a teacher. And the only time he could have been Slughorn's student is the last time Slughorn taught here…which was ages ago. Also, I think – I think that was Sirius Black right there. He looked different but…what's going on?"

Harry didn't answer her for a while. "Okay," he finally said. "First of all, Sirius is innocent. I'll explain later. In a nutshell, though, Sirius was framed by Peter Pettigrew, who's actually alive. The thing is, though, Sirius? He's dead. He was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange in the Department of Mysteries last term. Furthermore," he continued, loudly, seeing that Anna was about to interrupt, "That guy on Sirius' right…that was my dad."

"I'm sorry?" Anna asked incredulously as Harry began stalking down the hall. "Your _dad?_ Potter, not to sound harsh or anything, but your dad's dead."

"And so is Sirius!" Harry snapped. "In our time, anyway."

"'In our time.' What do you mean, 'in our time'?"

"Look," Harry whirled around to face her. "Do you not see what's going on here? We were covered head to toe by Neville's faulty travel potion, into which a Time-Turner had fallen just moments before. Then we see my dad and Sirius Black walking down the hall in Hogwarts School robes. _Old_-looking school robes."

"Are you trying to tell me that we went back in time? Twenty years back in time?" Anna demanded as Harry began moving again.

"That's what it looks like, doesn't it?" Harry said.

Anna shook her head. "This is the weirdest day," she muttered, and followed Harry down the hall.


End file.
